The present invention relates to a novel amide compound containing fluorine atoms not described in any prior art literature or, more particularly, to a fluorine-containing aromatic diamide compound substituted on each of the benzene rings by two organosilyl groups, which may be useful as a crosslinking agent of a curable silicone rubber composition. The invention further relates to a method for the preparation of the above mentioned novel compound.
While several types are known of silicone rubber compositions curable by utilizing a crosslinking agent and various compounds are proposed and employed as the crosslinking agent for silicone rubber compositions, none of the conventional crosslinking agents are quite satisfactory with problems related to the insufficient activity for curing of the silicone rubber composition and expensiveness of the compound. Accordingly, the inventors have conducted extensive investigations to obtain a compound useful as a crosslinking agent of silicone rubber compositions free from the above mentioned problems and disadvantages in the conventional crosslinking agents including screening tests of known compounds and synthetic preparation of novel compounds to be subjected to a curing test of silicone rubber compositions. As a result of these studies, the inventors have arrived at an unexpected discovery that a novel fluorine-containing diamide compound specified below is quite satisfactory for the purpose.